


No Time Like the Present

by ElCapitan18



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:51:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3402395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElCapitan18/pseuds/ElCapitan18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The threat of the Elder One has been over for some time now. Thadas is at peace, at least for a little while, and that peace has Cullen thinking of the future. He and Delani are together, and still he wants more. He's sure that they can take whatever awaits them, even this. And there is no better time to face it than the present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Time Like the Present

He couldn’t fight the grin from his face as he watched Delani get run down by a stampede of children. Their shrill screams and laughter filled the air, pulling the attention of onlookers who gave the Inquisitor a single glance, shook their heads, and returned to their business. It was far from an uncommon sight, to see Delani surrounded by children and playing with them as though she were a child herself. Skyhold had long since grown accustomed to seeing her in such a state, and it no longer held the same shock value that it had so long ago.

“Cullen!” Delani screamed, a laugh in her voice as she tried to fight her way out of tiny grabbing hands and limbs. “Save me!”

Hands resting on the pommel of his sword, Cullen shook his head even though he knew she would not see the gesture, and replied, “You’ve faced dragons before, my Lady Inquisitor. I’m certain that you can handle a band of blood thirsty children.”

With a child attached to each of her limbs and a dozen more circling her like sharks, Delani’s playful glare bore through him as she was pulled to the ground. She fell with a fading, “Traitor.”

A laugh bubbled out of Cullen as he watched the children pile themselves on top of Delani. Perhaps he should save her, but after a moment Cullen thought better of it. She would survive a moment longer. The children's delighted laughter was too endearing a sound to cut it short now.

“They’re not actually blood thirsty, are they?” a small voice murmured from his side.

Cullen looked down to find the small elven girl huddled to his side, hiding behind and hugging his leg as though he would protect her from the violence he had just promised. She was no older than four, and a tiny thing at that; small for her age and her race. The little girl had a head of dark brown hair and naturally tanned skin. Her big, round eyes were chocolatey brown, and she had the smallest, most delicate looking face he had ever seen in a child either human or elven.

Her name was Kayla, and she had grown attached to Cullen from the moment she saw him. Where the other children loved to play and wrestle with Delani, Kayla would linger at the sidelines with Cullen, clinging to his pant leg as she watched the chaos unfold. She was a quiet little thing, her voice soft and demeanor timid. Kayla was better equipped to communicate with her brown eyes than with her little voice, and it was her timorousness that had endeared her so completely to Cullen.

He stroked her soft brown locks as he patted the top of her head. Smiling down at the wide eyed girl, Cullen assured her, “No, Kayla, it was just a figure of speech.”

She looked up at him then, her eyes begging him to promise that there would be no bloodshed. Raising her arms toward him, a smile toyed at the corners of her mouth when Cullen bent down to lift her into his arms. He could not help it, he was a slave to those big brown eyes and he suspected that she knew it.

Wrapping a slender arm around the back of his neck, Kayla watched as Delani played with the other children. She was on her hands an knees with no less than four children on her back, riding her like a horse. Cullen grinned at her lunacy before giving the small elven child in his arms a side long glance.

Adjusting his hold on the little girl, Cullen wondered, “Why don’t you play with the others, Kayla?”

Her attention was on the rabble rousers as she twisted her lips. Without looking at Cullen, she quietly answered, “They’re bigger than me.”

“Are you scared that they’ll hurt you?” When she answered with a big nod he had to fight off his smile. She was just too much cute for him to handle. Cullen tried to remember if he had been anything like her as a child. He had never had a great many friends, instead he had opted to set out on childish adventures and discover coves or animals, or pretend to be a Templar fighting against evil maleficarum. Large groups such as this one would have dissuaded him as well.

He stared at her profile for a second, admiring her tiny little nose and how her pointed ears stuck out from the tendrils of her wavy brown hair. She was a delightful little girl, and a large part of Cullen wondered if his and Delani’s children would ever look like her. Children? He shook away the thought. They had not discussed having children, but seeing Delani with Skyhold’s children, and holding Kayla in his arms, made Cullen seriously consider the topic.

“What if I promised to protect you,” he asked, “would you play with them then?”

Kayla shook her head and turned to meet Cullen’s gaze. Her lips pulled into a big grin when she said, “You can protect me better if I’m close.”

Cullen chuckled. She wasn’t wrong. Soon the Chantry Sisters came to collect the children and return them to their families. After a chorus of disappointed groans and complaints the children were rounded up and Cullen set Kayla back onto her feet as well. The girl didn’t immediately leave his side. She clung to his pant leg as one of the sisters beckoned her with a wave.

When Cullen glanced down, smiling at her in reassurance, she twisted her lips and wondered, “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Do you want to?”

She nodded and his smile grew.

“Then you will see me again tomorrow,” he promised and she flashed him her most beautiful smile in reply. Satisfied with his answer, Kayla ran past Delani toward the Chantry Sisters to be ushered back to the pilgrim’s settlement just outside of Skyhold.

Delani pat Kayla on the head as she bolted by, catching a feel of the young girl’s hair before she she was huddled up with the other children. Sauntering up to where Cullen was standing, she laced her fingers through his and they both watched as the children left Skyhold for their families.

Waving in reply to the children who were wishing her goodbye, Delani glanced up at Cullen with the observation, “Kayla has grown quite attached to you.”

“She has,” Cullen agreed, simpering at the memory of the little girl who knew how to play him like a fiddle. Holding Delani’s sea green gaze, he admitted, “I am pretty fond of her myself.”

The smile on Delani’s mouth was admiring. Quietly she regarded Cullen for a moment before they started for the main hall, walking hand in hand as they made their way toward their bed chambers. Cullen nodded in acknowledgement of the greetings thrown their way from the loitering nobles, offering each one a weak smile in reply. With his attention on listening to the tail end of the conversations around him, he barely heard what Delani said next.

“You’re good with her.”

He shrugged, a little embarrassed and flattered by the observation in equal parts. He had never thought of himself as being ‘good’ with kids before, but he was elated that she thought that he was. Cullen didn’t know why it meant so much to him.

Glancing down at his wife, Cullen tried to work out the meaning of her tone. She had spoken so softly that he hadn’t been able to catch her inflection, even the expression she wore was guarded. Intrigued, Cullen didn’t pursue his curiosity until they had both made it past the first door to their chambers. Once the door clicked behind him, he allowed himself to investigate Delani’s meaning.

“Does that bother you,” he asked before clarifying when she glanced up at him with a quirked eyebrow. “That I’m good with her, I mean.”

Delani shook her head and they both climbed the stairs to their quarters. Keeping her gaze downcast, she watched the steps flow beneath her climbing feet as she answered, “No, of course not. I was just thinking of how you might be with our children someday.” The following sentence was spoken so softly that if Cullen hadn’t given her his undivided attention he would have missed it completely.

“That is assuming that you want to have children.”

Frowning, he followed her up the rest of the stairs in silence. Did he want children? The thought of having his own family had always seemed so far fetched to him. When he was younger his first and only priority was the Order. His concentration had been so centered around being a Templar, protecting mages, and protecting the populace from those mages, that he had never taken the time to consider if he wanted a family of his own.

But now he no longer had the excuse of the Order. He didn’t even have the excuse of an ongoing war. The conflict in Orlais had long since ended. Corypheus was defeated, for good this time. There were no daunting threats impeding him from considering his future with Delani further. Already he had managed to get her to agree to marrying him. They were already a family, all that was left was to manifest their love for each other into another living being; a baby that would be equal parts him and her.

The thought of a having a child made his stomach flip. It was not an unpleasant thought, to be the father of Delani’s children, to have a tiny little infant with her big green eyes and his refined nose. He could not imagine loving anything more than that hypothetical baby.

And Delani would be a superb mother. He had seen for himself on countless occasions how she was with the children around Skyhold. Hands calloused by years of combat had such a breathtaking ability to be gentle, to wipe away fallen tears, to tickle ribs, and pull free jubilant laughter. Delani was capable of a love so profound that Cullen seriously doubted that it had any limits. She was tentative, pensive, and considerate when she wanted to be, and could hold her ground against even the most trying children.

Delani was a woman built for many talents. She lead armies, she delegated with bureaucrats, she counseled royalty, killed men who endangered her or her loved ones, and knew when to stay her hand. It was clear that she had always been destined to be the Inquisitor, but it was just as clear that she had always been meant to be a mother as well. Now that Cullen thought of it, he could not bear to deny her the opportunity.  

Cullen had never thought about having children before, but now that he was he could not think of anything he wanted more.

The confines of their bed chambers was cool. A summer breeze whispering through the open balcony doors and dancing around in the room. The hearth grumbled as it tried to combat the cold air in the room, but there was not enough firewood in its belly for it to put up a proper fight.

His wife went over to the love seat as Cullen added a few more logs to the fire. He turned around and held her gaze before joining her on the sofa. Nerves were now knotting inside of him as he thought about his newly discovered desires, and he wondered whether or not she felt the same.

They had never spoken about having children, at least not at length, and now Cullen was regretting not having this conversation sooner. What would he do if Delani did not want kids? Nothing, he supposed. He loved his wife. If she had decided that she never wanted to have children then it had been with good reason, but this was now a conversation that they needed to have.

Delani was watching him carefully as he removed his sword from his belt and leaned it against the sofa. Allowing himself to get comfortable, for what would most likely be a long conversation, Cullen settled into the cushions and draped his arm on the back of the couch before meeting and holding her gaze.

He admired how the last bursts of sunlight streamed through the stained glass, painting the room and his wife with warm yellow and green tones. It served to bring out the brilliant color of her eyes, making her look wild and ethereal all in one. Her auburn hair was the longest it had ever been, not having been reacquainted with sheers since the mess with Corypheus had started. She was now worrying on the crimson strands, nervously braiding it over her shoulder as she waited for him to speak.

Pulling his attention to her hands working her hair into a braid, Cullen looked up to meet Delani’s hesitant gaze. Her plush lips were twisted with doubt, her sea green eyes guarded as she anticipated what he would say next. Sighing through his nose, he decided not to hold off the conversation a moment longer. It was obvious that they both were desperate to know how the other felt on the matter.

“I have never really thought about having children,” he admitted with another sigh. Rubbing the furrow from his brow, Cullen dragged his hand down his face and tried to decide how cautiously he needed to approach the topic. “I never expected to find myself with the opportunity.”

With her hair fully braided, Delani kept her gaze trained on him as she reversed the process. It was a new habit that she had formed, braiding and unbraiding her hair, it was just one other way for her to keep her hands busy while she thought. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she asked, “And now that you do have the opportunity?”

Cullen shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “I would not mind the privilege of being a father.” His heart tightened as a hopeful shine began to sparkle in her eyes. Finding that he was no longer able to pretend the topic did not weigh as heavily on him as it actually did, Cullen inched closer to Delani and pulled her into his embrace.

With her lean legs draped over his, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close to him as he searched her beautiful face. “Truth be told, ma atishan, now that I have given the topic any consideration at all I find it difficult to think of anything I want more.”

Eyes wide with surprise, she investigated, “Really?”

He nodded. Tucking her fringe behind a pointed ear, Cullen traced the line of her jaw with his finger tips before tucking a knuckle under her chin and lifting her face to his. “I love you,” he supplied in answer to her question. “I have never loved another the way that I love you. We are married, both Orlais and Ferelden are at peace, and you are not needed so frequently on the field anymore.” It was the last part that was the greatest comfort to Cullen. Nothing had ever been more difficult then consistently sending Delani off and waiting for weeks for her safe return. Now that Corypheus was defeated her role of Inquisitor demanded much less adventure, and for that he was grateful.

“You are loved by every child that sets foot in Skyhold and have a sense of patience that I cannot help but to envy a little.” A small smile curled the corner of his mouth and Cullen admitted, “You would make a spectacular mother.”

Smiling brightly at such high praise, Delani pulled herself more snuggly against him and searched his face for the truth behind his words. When she found only sincerity and certainty in his gaze her smile grew. “And you would make a wonderful father,” she returned, grabbing him by the fur of his mantel and tugging his mouth toward hers.

She stole a kiss from his lips before pulling away to hold his gaze again. “I’ve never thought about having children before,” Delani admitted, petting down his furs as she thought aloud. “When I was with the clan I always wanted to have a union much like the kind that my parents had, but then my father died and I thought that I would never find a man of his like again.”

Delani’s smile grew and she looked up to meet Cullen’s eyes. Sea green irises relayed to him that the thought had been a misconception. Without saying a word she admitted that she had not only found a man on par with her late father, but that she had also married him as well.

“Then I joined the Inquisition,” she continued. “And met you, and suddenly the idea of having a family of my own doesn’t feel so impossible.” Her smile fell a touch, the shine in her eyes dulling just a bit, and Cullen hated to see the doubt that started to shadow her features.

Biting her bottom lip, Delani wrung her fingers and stated, “Any child of ours will be halfblooded. Children of mixed race are treated so terribly, Cullen. They would be rejected by your people and by mine.”

His head started shaking before she voiced her thought to completion. Cullen refused to believe that a child conceived by love would struggle to find their place in the world. It was naive to think, and a part of him knew it, but he couldn’t help but believe that any child of theirs would be viewed with nothing but the kind of love that had brought them into the world.

“Thanks to you and the Hero of Ferelden elves are no longer viewed with the same level of animosity as they once were.” When Delani’s brows furrowed to argue that point with him, he hurried to his point. “You continue to make strides on that front everyday, closing the gap between our races one diplomatic meeting at a time. Any child of our will be the child of the Inquisitor and the general of the Inquisition. You are one of the most influential women in all of Thedas, and that goes beyond race.”

When he saw that a sliver of doubt remained in her eyes, Cullen cupped her face in his hands and held her uncertain gaze. “Skyhold is our home, and the people who live here beside us have nothing but respect for you. Inside these walls our children will be loved, and everything beyond these walls will have to contend with me.”

A small smile twisted the corner of her mouth at that. Delani's delicate fingers wrapped around his wrists and she let out a heavy breath. Grip tightening on his forearms, she drew small circles on the backs of his hands with her thumbs as she held his gaze. “You are a fearsome creature, vhenan’ara,” she said with a quiet laugh. “When the time comes you will be a wonderful father.”

When the time comes. He repeated the words, rolling the around in his mind. Cullen knew that he wanted to be a father, but was he ready for that responsibility? He had his doubts, but didn’t most parents? There was nothing he wanted more than to have a family with Delani, to witness first steps and hear first words, to teach their children how to wield a sword and how to read, to play with them and brush them off when they fell.

There was still so much for the Inquisition to do, but the Inquisitor now had time to pursue her own desires. If they both wanted to start a family then what was there to stop them? Smile unraveling over his lips, Cullen arched a single eyebrow and proposed, “The right time does not have to be so distant, Delani.”

Her expression widened with surprise. “What?” she sputtered, blinking hard as she tried to wrap her head around what he was suggesting. “You mean like now?”

A chuckle rumbled out of him with her reaction. Shrugging, Cullen supplied, “Why not? We both want children—“

“It doesn’t mean we’re ready,” she hastily countered.

He held her gaze with a serious look and wondered, “What’s to stop us?”

Delani’s mouth opened and closed as she searched for a viable excuse as to why they shouldn’t do this. Her eyelashes fluttered as she blinked and, after a minute or so, she screwed her lips shut and  frowned. “Nothing,” whispered Delani in answer to his question.

“Nothing,” he repeated with a nod. They were married, they had a home, Delani’s life was no longer constantly in danger, and the world was as safe as it was going to be. For so long they had placed the needs of others before their own. They had put their dreams and desires on the back burner so that the world would know peace at least for a little while. Who knew how long that peace would last, but while it did Cullen wanted to spend that time raising a family with the woman he loved.

Allowing a teasing grin to etch its way across his lips, Cullen wondered, “So, do you want to make a baby or what?”

A laugh bubbled out of Delani and she grabbed him by the ears and wrinkled her nose. “You are exceedingly hard to resist. You know that?” Pressing a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose, Delani let out a defeated sigh and grinned in delight. Excitement shown bright in her eyes and it was plain to see that this was something that she wanted very badly.

She bit into her lip before huskily saying, “Well, come on, Commander. I hear that making the baby is the best part.”

Cullen tucked one arm under Delani’s legs and held her back with the other. When he stood from the sofa it was with the elf woman in tow, and he carried her the short distance to their bed. Carefully easing her onto the mattress, Cullen climbed on top of his wife and pressed a lingering kiss onto her lips.

When their kiss broke he whispered, “I love you so much,” before reclaiming her mouth one more time.


End file.
